Beautiful french silver sugar shell demitasse spoon by H. LeMarie, France. Ornate hand-tooled decorative design on the handle of this french silver spoon, which extends down the handle. The bowl of the spoon is crafted in the traditional shell-shape. The back of the handle tip is engraved with an ornate letter "E".
French silver was also subject to the various fiscal crises of the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries; both Louis XIV and Louis XV issued edicts demanding that silver be brought to the mint for melting, the resulting silver to be used to replenish depleted state treasuries. Thus, French silver from the seventeenth and first half of the eighteenth centuries survives in relatively small quantities. The strict guild system in France helped to ensure the very high quality typically found in French silver.
The maker’s mark in the diamond-shape appears to be that of H. LEMARIE, trading in Paris beginning in 1865. There is a round coin shape in the upper point of the diamond, and an acorn shape in the lower point.
The other mark is the silver fineness mark and appears to be the head of Minerva facing right in a rectangle with clipped corners. This french silver sugar spoon is .950 standard silver, higher in silver content than sterling.
This "better than sterling" french silver sugar shell demitasse spoon is in excellent condition, with no damage to note. This sterling spoon measures 3.5" in length and weighs 6 grams.
A1201 - H. LEMARIE French Silver Sugar Shell Demitasse Spoon Late 19th Century (c. 1865)
$125.00 insured USPS Priority Mail
